ASC suspends Privest Wealth Management

The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has suspended the registration of Calgary-based Privest Wealth Management Inc., pending the surrender of the registration of the exempt market dealer, the regulator announced Wednesday.

“Privest acknowledged and agreed to the suspension, after it became apparent they were unable to address regulatory concerns,” the ASC says in its announcement.

In June, the ASC settled with Privest over, “concerns about the firm’s practices regarding conflicts of interest, suitability, marketing and other issues,” which were discovered during a compliance review by the ASC.

As part of that settlement, Privest agreed to terms and conditions, including that it hire an independent monitor to help it beef up compliance, and report its progress to the ASC. The first progress report was due on Dec. 15.